Drug and Dietary Supplement Profiles

A comprehensive review of the safety
and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information
on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.

Search results below include drug profiles where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion

Ulcers and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
[hide all summaries]
There are nondrug treatments, with no safety concerns, and less expensive drugs that may be effective for GERD; these should be tried before you use any drugs for heartburn. First, try to avoid foods that trigger your condition (e.g., fatty foods, onions, caffeine, peppermint, and chocolate), and avoid alcohol, smoking, and tight clothing.
Second, avoid food, and particularly alcohol, within two or three hours of bedtime. Third, elevate the head of the bed about six inches or sleep with extra pillows.

Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles

Search
results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your
selected drug is a primary subject of discussion

Proton Pump Inhibitors Might Cause Chronic Kidney Disease
[hide all summaries]
(July 2016)
Public Citizen's Health Research Group has long warned about the serious risks of the commonly used group of heartburn drugs known as proton pump inhibitors. In this article, we discuss new research suggesting that chronic kidney disease is another potential side effect of these drugs.

Proton Pump Inhibitors: Dangerous and Habit-Forming Heartburn Drugs
[hide all summaries]
(November 2011)
PPIs are now one of the most widely used classes of prescription drugs, with an estimated one out of every 20 people in the developed world currently taking one of these medications. However, given that recent research shows PPIs may be habit-forming, that the majority of PPI use is probably inappropriate, with minimal or no benefit to the patient, and that new, life-threatening risks with long-term therapy are continually emerging, it is time for the medical community to re-evaluate the role of PPIs in everyday practice.

Possible Increased Risk of Fractures With Long-Term, High-Dose Use of Heartburn Drugs
[hide all summaries]
(August 2010)
The article reviews evidence that patients 50 years old or older who take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs -- a list of the six approved ones is in the article) or use them for a year or more may be at increased risk of fractures of the hip, wrist and spine. Since much of the use of these drugs is inappropriate and unnecessarily dangerous, the article discusses pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic alternatives to PPIs.

Smoke & Mirror Marketing (& Other Clever Big Pharma Tricks)
[hide all summaries]
(May 2010)
The article reviews 12 prescription drugs, many of which are top-sellers, all of which are greatly overpriced in comparison to older "versions" of the same drugs. The patents on the old drugs expired so the "innovative" companies patented these new products, gaining a patent on them, and, for all practical purposes, using them as a license to print money. There is no evidence that any of the new ones are better than the now less-expensive, old versions.

Avoiding Overuse of Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)
[hide all summaries]
(March 2008)
This article reviews evidence for the international epidemic of overuse of proton pump inhibitors (PPI),
drugs used to treat ulcers and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). There were 70 million prescriptions filled in U.S. pharmacies in 2006 for the four leading PPI drugs: esomeprazole (NEXIUM), lansoprazole (PREVACID), pantoprazole (PROTONIX) and rabeprazole (ACIPHIX). Find out about several serious side effects of these drugs such as increased community-acquired pneumonia, increased hip fractures and acute kidney inflammation. Learn about alternatives to using PPIs.

Additional Information from Public Citizen

Search results below include Additional Information from Public Citizen where your selected drug is a primary subject of discussion

Petition Urging FDA to Add Warnings to Proton Pump Inhibitors (HRG Publication #1964)
[hide all summaries]
Public Citizen petitions the FDA to immediately add black box warnings and other safety information concerning several severe risks to the product labels of all proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) presently on the market in the U.S. In addition, the serious nature of so many of these adverse reactions also mandates the requirement for FDA-approved patient Medication Guides, none of which exist now, for all of these drugs.

Health Letter Articles

Proton-Pump Inhibitors: Dangerous and Habit-Forming Heartburn Drugs
[hide all summaries]
(September 2011)
PPIs are now one of the most widely used classes of prescription drugs, with an estimated one out of every 20 people in the developed world currently taking one of these medications. However, given that recent research shows PPIs may be habit-forming, that the majority of PPI use is probably inappropriate, with minimal or no benefit to the patient, and that new, life-threatening risks with long-term therapy are continually emerging, it is time for the medical community to re-evaluate the role of PPIs in everyday practice.